Why Venmo May Not Be the Godsend You Think It Is

When Venmo first debuted, it felt like a godsend, despite the revelation that some users were getting scammed. What could be better than a mobile payment app that allows friends to electronically send money to one another with the simple push of a button?

Gone was the awkward exchange of reminding someone about the $10 you're owed for last night's pizza dinner (and then arguing over whether it was actually more or less than $10 dollars).

But a new story from Quartz's Kari Paul posits that the opposite is happening. In his story titled "Venmo Is Turning Our Friends Into Petty Jerks," users of the app give testimonials of instances when they received unexpected invoices from their Venmo-obsessed friends.

One such user is Stephanie, who details the time her friend sent her an invoice for a glass of wine she had just offered her. "I couldn't believe she was charging me for the glass of wine she poured me herself," Stephanie tells Paul. "Venmo is definitely giving some people an easier outlet for that kind of behavior."

Paul notes that Venmo makes it easier for thrifty millennials to bill their friends without ever having to awkwardly confront them.

"Some young people are finding that the app's convenience—and the faceless nature of payment requests—has emboldened the tight-fisted among us to nickel and dime close friends without confrontation," Paul notes.

Paul also opens up about her own unusual experiences with the app, like that time a co-worker invited her for coffee only to send her a Venmo for $3.79 afterward.

The question now becomes a chicken-and-egg dilemma. Did Venmo give birth a new kind of penny-pinching pettiness, or did it just reveal something that was already there?

Keep your actual money in this Urban Outfitters Simple Cardholder Wallet, and let us know if you're a fan of using Venmo.